• by Kelly Samardak , September 22, 2010

StockTwits And CNNMoney "Wall Street 2 Party", Highbar, New York
September 21, 2010

Last night the sky could not have been more gorgeous.  I'm sad that the sun has already begun to set earlier, but the upside is that those lingering rooftop parties that begin at 6 p.m. get to view some beautiful pre-autumn sunsets.  The first party last night was one such viewing event, a joint hoedown between StockTwits and CNNMoney atop Highbar.

The invitation called it "Wall Street 2 Party," but the only obvious theme tie-ins to me were the abundance of men in pin-striped suits (very dapper, gentlemen!) and the Camacho Cigars, which I grabbed two of, because hello, nothing says "Goodbye hot and nasty summer!" like a stogie on the roof with my dude.  Also, the cigar pimp, who reminded me of the OG 7-Up guy (in case I've dated myself here, for your viewing pleasure) of my youth, said "don't inhale."  Are you listening, Bill Clinton?

The first person I met was Leslie Fishlock, who does community development at StockTwits and was deep into separating nametags when I found her.  The nametag table was filled with names spanning the social media and NY tech scene. 

Out on the Highbar deck I found the Branded Evolution founding team of Mike Cerrone, Dave Ford, Johnny Williams, and Warner Siebert already sipping on gifts from the open bar, which served every drink you could possibly imagine complete with a purple blinky ice cube.   The deck was beautiful, speckled with corporate types, reflecting the deeply peaching sky.  Inside was just as lovely, still lit by natural light and dotted with pantsless waitresses. 

Which brings up the first review I read about Highbar: "The waitresses are cheap and trashy" - Reviewed by AnneMichellev8803 on Zagat.  I have no idea how much the waitresses cost, but they seemed nice enough, just... without pants.  Very Gordon Gekko.  Near les filles sans culottes I found David Weiner, Manager, Emerging Media, for PR Newswire.  If you see him out and about, congratulate him on his accomplishment of being cig free for 36 days (now 37!), which has also saved him about 400 bucks.  He whipped out his Quitter iPhone app to show me.   We tossed around nonsense interview questions for his interview with Nick Bilton about his book "I Live in the Future & Here's How It Works."  Because, according to Weiner, the first 30 or so pages are about porn, I suggested asking Bilton if he wanted to rub oil on Weiner's bald head.  We'll see if he took my advice.

I also met Howard Lindzon, Co-Founder and CEO of StockTwits, which is a Twitter-driven community of investors and stock-trading curious cats.  I'm no stock wizard, so you can read up on it yourself for the real deal.  I found Gregory Galant, founder of Sawhorse Media, lurking nearby.  He promptly asked me why I haven't been at Digital DUMBO recently and I promptly felt guilty.

Best meet of the night goes to Matt Keiser of LiveIntent, who was sporting a "Everyone Wants My Meat" T-shirt.  He was peddling "perky jerky."  Yup, guarana-infused jerky.  And I'll bet you thought jerky couldn't get any better. Keiser suggested I eat it before AND after the gym.  I suggested he subsidize my Ambien prescription.  I later saw Keiser in an excited discussion with Jay Greenwald - perhaps the meat snack was hitting hard.

Ellen Lindzon; Ivaylo Ivankoff; StockTwits.tv's Jon Labes; Caleb Silver, Executive Producer at CNNMoney.com; Eddy Elfenbein of CrossingWallStreet.com; Matthew Guma of Concert Pass; and Donna Clark of CNNMoney were also there to celebrate all things money.  I had to skip the bar and crab cakes and head back downtown to Spin New York for the second party of the evening, which you'll read about later today!

Photos from Highbar up on Flickr!